Verdict on Khashoggi killing: Fiancee fears 'the truth' may never come out

Voices against the verdict in Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi killing grew stronger after his fiancee called the sentencing "unfair and invalid". Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's fiancee, said that the execution of five people would further conceal the truth because the reason behind the murder is still not out.

The Washington Post columnist went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul but disappeared after that. Khashoggi’s was reportedly murdered, his body was dismembered and removed from the building. A Saudi court sentenced five people to death and prison term to three people but exonerated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s inner circle.

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'Truth behind murder'

Cengiz, in a statement, said that if the people sentenced to death get executed without giving them a chance to explain the reason behind the murder, the truth behind the murder would never come out. She called upon every authority in the world to condemn the verdict and urgently prevent any execution.

Just after the verdict, UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions Agnes Callamard lashed out at Saudi Arabia and said that the hitmen were sentenced to death while the masterminds were barely touched by the investigation and the trial. She called it obstruction of justice and a violation of the Minnesota Protocol for the investigation of arbitrary killings.

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The UN official further said that the trial never considered the responsibilities of the State when the killing of Khashoggi was nothing but extrajudicial execution under international human rights law. She said that the agencies failed to investigate “the chain of command to identify the masterminds, as well as those who incited, allowed or turned a blind eye to the murder such as the Crown Prince.”

In June 2019, Callamard published a report saying Jamal Khashoggi was the victim of a premeditated extrajudicial execution, for which the State of Saudi Arabia was responsible. The report said that the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Security Council or the UN Secretary-General should demand a follow-up criminal investigation into Khashoggi’s killing.

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Read: UN Official Calls Verdict In Jamal Khashoggi Killing ‘mockery Of Justice’

(With inputs from agencies)